| Journal: TWUK | Section: |
| Title: | Issue Date: 28/08/00 |
| Author: | Page Number: 10 |
| Copyright: Other |
Consultants must sell to make companies profitable
I READ with sympathy the article and letter about Lunn Poly’s deduction of commission payments from staff members’ wages (Travel Weekly August 21) but feel I should make a simple point, often forgotten, which is: employees should be aware that wages do not come from the wages department!Lunn Poly does not have a money tree growing in the head-office backyard.Wages can only be paid out of income and, in the case of Lunn Poly, most of this income comes from commission on the sale of holidays. No sales equals no commission equals no wages!
It might seem unfair that those in other professions are not subject to these same rules – the doctor gets paid whether his patients live or die, the lawyer gets paid whether her clients win or lose their cases. However, those in the selling business earn nothing unless their clients buy something.
Unfair it may be, but that’s the nature of the job and whereas I accept that Lunn Poly’s staff may believe they have not been as well informed as they could have been, travel consultants and others who earn there living as salespeople must be aware that this is the way things are.
Any travel consultant who doesn’t want to be a salesperson would be best advised to seek employment in a non-sales job. There are, after all, plenty of them.
Richard English www.retraining-uk.com
Reigate
Surrey